This Saturday’s contest between Randy Costa and Adrian Yanez at UFC Vegas 32 has all the making of a fan friendly fight. Both guys are the proud owners of highlight reel knockouts and a style that makes it so that no fan can look away from the cage for a second. But while we’re usually quick to laud Sean Shelby or Mick Maynard for their well orchestrated selections, this one instead came from Adrian Yanez’s pocket.
“I had just got done with the fight with Gustavo [Lopez] and I was on my way back to the hotel and I was looking [at my phone] to respond to people,” Yanez explained. “The next thing you know, [my mentions] just keep going and going and going.”
His Twitter mentions weren’t just people congratulating him on his phenomenal knockout or the 50k he just made for performance of the night (although there was plenty of that). Instead, it was people fantasy booking him against Randy Costa and nobody seemed to be opposed to the idea.
“Somebody said ‘man, you versus Randy Costa would be great’ and it went from one person saying it to another person saying it,” he said. “I was watching this all in real time.”
Then, in real time, a key person chimed in and it got the wheels even more in motion than they had already been.
“I saw Randy replied to it and I wasn’t opposed to it because was trying to get a fight in Houston,” he shared. “So if we can get it done as soon as possible I am ready to go. Next thing you know, it takes off – that’s the first time it ever happened – a fight made on Twitter.”
While it was definitely a different way to get it done, Yanez has been thrilled with all of the support from #MMATwitter. To have another fight come together so quick thanks to fan support, is really meaningful to the Houston-based fighter.
“At first it was kind of weird because this was the time with the most support from fans or MMA Twitter or anything like that,” he said. “So to see how big it blew up within 30 minutes…It was really cool for that to happen and to be a part of it”
And it wasn’t just the love in getting him to fight again, but the fans of the Twitterverse have been keeping the ball rolling for the Yanez/Costa showdown. Fan art, videos, posters, and more have all dotted the social media platform and Yanez loves every bit of it.
“I have really been appreciating [the fan art] – all of it,” he said. “They’ve all been phenomenal.”
Yanez added that perhaps his favorite of the pieces was an edit that involved his face superimposed over that of controversial figure Joshua Fabia as he punched a Randy Costa/Diego Sanchez hybrid in the head.
He’ll look to try to light up the actual Costa this Saturday on a bout that has been moved up to the ESPN main card of UFC Vegas 32… once again thanks to MMA Twitter.
You can listen to the entire audio of this interview at 2:18
